The Climb
by The Fighting Irishman
Summary: What happens when we fall? Simple. We learn to pick ourselves back up.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I own a copy of at least one game from every Generation, but that's about it.

A new traveller to the Johto region would find a curious situation upon entering the old town of Violet City. Even though it could be the dead of winter everywhere else in the world, it was always a few degrees warmer in Violet than the rest of the country and the snow was not nearly as thick. Or, in the summer, what would be a manageable heat anywhere else was an unbearable heat wave in Violet. This seemed a violation of the general rules of geographic weather patterns, until you walked a little bit north of Violet and past the forests until you reached a valley that was barricaded by steep mountainous rock formations. The Charicific Valley. And then it all made sense.

Because, hey, if there was one thing that Charizards hate more than Dragonites, it's winter weather.

Liza was used to this. She rarely left the valley except to go get supplies from Violet, and everyone always marveled at how well-adjusted she was from being the equivalent of a hermit, and dealing with countless petulant Fire types. Of course, they never really talked to her face. It was more behind the back sort of things.

"They say she doesn't have any friends except those Charizard."

"They say she's never had a boyfriend. How can a girl that pretty be alone? I should ask her out."

"They say she's part Charizard."

"They say she's crazy."

"She's so _tall!_"

At which point, Liza would always turn towards the gossips and look them directly in the eye before shaming them with one sentence.

"They say she's deaf, too."

She'd lost count how many times she'd had to say that. Or a variant.

Today had been a pleasant difference. Too many people were hiding from the cold to gawk at her, so she was able to pay for her food and supplies with no hassle and departed from town as quietly as she had entered. Well, as inconspicuously as one could while flying with a team of Charizard. Her most trusted Charizard, Charla, was her mount and closest confidant. The other Charizard she had handpicked out of the literally dozens of Charizard in the valley based on their professionalism and common courtesy to the outside world. It had taken her a while to find enough. Recently, a lot of the Charizard had been rather immature.

They landed back in the valley as the sun was beginning to set. Probably about two hours of daylight left. Good. Just enough time for feeding. She pointed to the food troughs lined next to her cottage, and looked at two of the oldest Charizard.

"Fill these up, and you two are on order patrol. I don't want any fights." She said. The two beasts grunted in understanding, and went to work pouring out the feed. She looked at the other two Charizard. "You two are to let the valley know that it is dinner time. Start with the western quadrant, and work towards here. Give the outside camps a chance to get here in time, you know?" The two Charizard roared in acknowledgement, before spreading their wings and taking flight. Then Liza turned to Charla, and adjusted the Charizard's bow in its ear. "You're off for the day, sweetie."

Charla nodded, but there was a sad look in her eyes that Liza picked up immediately.

"You miss him, huh?" She asked. Charla nodded. Liza offered a sad smile.

"I do too. He was a tough guy, really hard worker. But you and I both know that he belongs out there with his trainer, that Ketchum kid. And he did promise to come back to visit a lot, right?"

Charla grinned and nodded at this. Liza sighed.

"Must be nice having a 'boyfriend,' huh dear?" She teasingly ribbed Charla in the chest. The Fire-type gave an indignant "harrumph" kind of growl, before walking off. Liza could only laugh.

Dinner went off without a hitch. The two Charizard she had picked as police did an excellent job distributing food equally. There were no fights this time, and no one got accidentally burned. It went so well that Liza was actually able to call it an early night. She had the elder Charizard from each section of the valley usher their clans back to their sleeping grounds, and then went up to her cottage for the rest of the night. She had bought a brand new tub of Ren and Larry's Ice Cream, and was fully planning on eating a good chunk of it that night.

Roughly fifteen minutes later, those plans were ruined.

It wasn't because of her. She and Charla were lounging in front of the TV that Liza had bought a few years ago, watching some battle on TV because there was nothing better on except maybe reruns of _My Little Ponyta_, when suddenly there arose a horrific roar from outside. Swearing violently, Liza threw a coat on over her pajamas and hastily put on her slippers, and bolted for the door. Every evening, she assigned two of the sharpest-eyed Charizard to keep night watch over the valley in case anything or anyone was stupid enough to enter it. The fact that they were currently freaking out meant that there was in fact an idiot inside of the Charicific Valley who was on a one-way ticket to getting flambe'd.

If Liza didn't kill him herself.

She raced down the stone steps from the cottage to the staging grounds. She was shouting with each step.

"WHAT-ARE-YOU-DOING-" She trailed off when she reached the end of the path, and saw the person in question.

"…here?" She finished lamely. It was probably a good thing that it was getting dark, otherwise it would be easy to see her rising blush. After all, it wasn't every day that Pokemon legend Lance drops in unexpected to visit your abode.

"I, um, apologize for the late intrusion." He said. He stood up from the rock he was sitting on, and turned towards her. He was wearing his standard League apparel, including that cape. He must've flown straight from Indigo Plateau. "I hope I haven't caused too much of a ruckus."

His obliviousness was absolutely stunning. Stunning enough that Liza got over her fangirling and immediately got back to angry.

"No, not at all. If by that you mean you have several starving Charizard looking to rip you to pieces and/or scorch you alive, then no you haven't caused too much of a ruckus." She said drily. Lance shrugged.

"I guess I should have come earlier in the day." He said.

"You _should _have given me notice, Mr. Champion." Liza said with a patronizing grin. "Just because you haven't lost in years doesn't mean that you can just waltz in and set up shop."

As soon as she said it, she realized that something was wrong. Lance didn't give that soft nod of acknowledgement he normally did whenever someone brought up his win streak. Instead, he just looked a little sad.

"I lost at the World Tournament." He said.

Liza felt her jaw hang open in shock. She then started to correct herself.

"Oh, _Arceus_, Lance I didn't mean to…I mean, you know I don't get much TV coverage out here in the valley and I just assumed…Oh man, this is I don't know…" She babbled like this for a good few moments before Lance smiled.

"It's alright, Liza." He said. "It was a good battle, and I've had a bit of time to think about it. Don't worry about embarrassing me. You can't." He winked at her. Liza recovered.

"Ok, so if you lost at the World Tournament, why did you come here? The last time you lost, I heard you retreated into the Dragon Clan castle and didn't come out for about three months." She said. Lance shrugged.

"I think I've changed." He said. He reached into his pocket. "That, and I'm here to deliver a message." He handed Liza the envelope. She opened it, and recognized the flowing handwriting of Grandmaster Arach immediately.

_Liza,_

_I hope that all is well in the valley. I imagine the Charizard are quite a bit to handle._

_I write to you requesting a favor: our dear mutual friend, Lance, expressed to me an interest in training his team in a different way than he normally has, no doubt inspired by his recent battle at the World Tournament (don't worry, he's more than willing to discuss it.)._

_Would you be willing to work with him for the foreseeable future? I promise you that he will be as little of a strain on your normal routine as possible, and if you need him to help you care for the Charizard in the valley…he could stand to learn how to deal with that sort of thing, don't you think?_

_Don't worry, I am more than willing to cover any costs the valley may incur while housing Lance. Think of this as free hired help!_

_I hope that you find this opportunity as meaningful as I think it could be, and I look forward to seeing you again in the near future. Now, knowing Lance, he has most likely arrived in a rather untimely and inopportune moment, so you have my personal blessing to punish him as you see fit._

_Sincerely yours,_

_**Arach**_

Liza had to smile at the Grandmaster's direct and honest means of communication. Even in writing, it sounded just like him. She also very much enjoyed the final sentence of this letter, oh so very much.

"Your Grandmaster has a wonderful way of communicating your plans." Liza said. "I accept. Welcome to the Charicific Valley." She looked at Lance and raised an eyebrow. "Uh, where is your equipment and extra clothing?" She asked. Lance shrugged.

"I figured I'd fly back tomorrow having brought everything that I need." He said. Liza's eyes widened.

Oh, this was just perfect.

"Nope." She said.

"What do you mean, 'nope?'" Lance asked, warily. Liza smiled devilishly.

"Arach gave me the free pass to punish you for arriving in such an ill-timed manner. So here's your punishment. Wanna live in the Valley? You act like one of us. That means _no_ capes, _no _specialized meals, and_ no_ extravagant breaks or lazy times." She said. "You're living with me and my Charizards? You live like one of us." She pointed to her cottage. "There's a guest bedroom in there, as well as plenty of farmhand clothing that should fit you."

"Uhmm…you're a girl." Lance sputtered. Liza raised an eyebrow.

"Oh don't you worry your perfect little head. Ranch hand clothing is gender-neutral. You won't have to worry about one little thing!" She practically skipped back up to the cottage, already envisioning the horrible things she could do to Lance in the name of training his Pokemon.

Lance just stood there, completely expressionless. His eye was twitching. Unhealthily so. Then, he took a deep breath and-

Somewhere, far away from that valley and tucked snugly into the community of houses that made up the only city on Knot Island of the Sevii Islands, sat a house. On the porch of that house, a man wearing depressingly bland clothing was sitting in a chair, quietly flipping through a book that was rapidly becoming a favorite. He heard the sliding door open behind him, and soon felt a hand on his shoulder.

"How's the book, dear?" His wife asked. The man smiled.

"Excellent. I highly recommend it when I'm done." He said. His wife smiled and took a seat right next to him. The sun was setting just past Mount Ember, and the sky was blood-red. It was moments like this that was the reason they had bought this house. On the beach below them, their two college-age daughters were playing "tag" with a pair of Bagon and an Arcanine.

"That's good. I'm looking forward to it!" His wife said. She then frowned. "The strangest thing happened a few moments ago, honey. I was getting ready to come outside, when I heard what sounded like the echoes of a young man's enraged shouts." The man in the chair raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? And what did this man's shout sound like?" He asked. His wife shrugged.

"I'm not sure. Something about cursing the very name of Arach and how he was going to have Dragonite peal the Grandmaster's skin with a flensing knife, before roasting him with a Hyper Beam…" She trailed off, and then a sly smile crept on her face. "Dear, did you do something to Lance?"

Arach looked her directly in the eye with a completely innocent look on his face.

"Honey, I think you must have been hearing things." He said.

A/N: Another vignette from the TrodaireVerse, ladies and gents! This one will focus on Lance, and be a lot more humor-based than the previous ones. Also, isn't Arach adorably sneaky? He's the Big Good of the TrodaireVerse, yet he is not above putting Lance in an embarrassing situation. I'm sure his wife and daughters worry about Lance's sanity…

R&R, please!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I own a copy of at least one game from every Generation, but that's about it.

They awoke early that morning, as the sun was beginning to rise. Liza glanced over at Lance, and suppressed a giggle. Here was the esteemed Dragon Master Lance, who had recently been upended at the World Tournament, a man that many a photo shoot had been asked for in that impressive cape getup he wore…dressed as a common ranch hand.

Oh, how the mighty fall indeed.

He wasn't complaining, however. That was nice. Liza remembered the last time that she had had help…it hadn't ended well. Lance glanced around the Charicific Valley, silently taking in the scene.

The Charicific Valley is a geographic anomaly. Legend has it that thousands of years ago, there was a war between two gigantic Pokemon, from whom many a Pokemon are descended from, which caused the craters that form the valley to be carved into the ground. More specifically, some say the craters were caused from one of the Pokemon inventing the Take Down and tackling its opponent onto the Earth's surface, which created the strange terrain. The mountainous barriers around the valley add a nice little natural barrier from prying eyes, and the spacious nature of the valley allows many Charizard to live with one another without territorial disputes. Over the years, erosion plus weather storms created grasslands in the bottom of the valley, and in the northern quadrant there is a waterfall that flows into a river that cuts right through the middle of the valley. There are many caves, and each of them glowed gently with the flames of Charizard tails at night while the beasts sleep.

All the Charizards really care about, however, is the dirt square in the direct center of the valley, surrounded by a field of grass. It is somehow, by the grace of Arceus, generally the size of a standard battle ring. There are many rock formations for spectators to roost on, and it is at high noon when all Charizard gather to watch the latest battle. This is how the Charizard of Charicific Valley grow so large. Here, there are no rules. Only the strongest, not just the strong, are even allowed entrance in the Valley. Very few have witnessed the grueling battles that take place in this valley.

It was in this square that Lance and Liza stood, looking around. Liza was also in work clothes, staring off towards some of the cave formations in the distance.

"It's a Friday. Today is an exercise day." Liza said. "That means that the Charizard are going to sleep in later so that they are more rested up for the day's activities." She pointed to the northern caves. "I'll give you a run-down of the clans here in the valley." She was interrupted.

"Clans?" Lance asked. Liza rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Dragon Master. Clans. I can't be everywhere in the valley at once, so there is division of leadership amongst the Charizard themselves. I personally select the most leader-worthy of the Charizard from each quadrant, and they become clan master. Below them are the clan council, usually two or three below them. The rest are clan members, nothing more."

"Reminds me of the Dragon Clan." Lance observed. Liza frowned.

"Yeah, about that. Be careful, Lance. All Charizard think of themselves as Dragons at heart, so nothing is going to get them more riled up than seeing a Dragonite. _Especially _your Dragonite." She pointed to the Poke Ball in Lance's hand, and the Dragon master winced.

"Why do Charizard hate Dragonite so much?" He asked.

"It's a mutual hatred. Dragonites think that Charizard are unworthy upstarts that think too much of themselves. Charizards think that Dragonites are dopey, unworthy creatures to be Dragons who are self-righteous to boot. They think that a Dragonite isn't "Dragon" material. Do you follow?" She asked.

"Not really." Lance admitted. Liza scoffed.

"Here's a better example. Gyarados. Is it a Dragon?" She asked.

"No." Lance said.

"Correct. But does it _look _like it could conceivably be a Dragon?" She asked. Lance raised his eyebrows.

"Ahhh…now I see." Then he got indignant. "My Dragonite is indeed worthy of _looking_ like a Dragon!" He said. Liza smirked.

"Try telling that to one of my Charizard." She winked. "Oh, and if you think that your Dragonite is a 'cultured' creature because it always fights in prestigious tournaments therefore it has no prejudice towards Charizards…you've got another thing coming. We can't completely eradicate their biological history. At best we can sand it down to fire-forged respect." She cleared her throat. "But I digress. There are four clans here. The northern caves host the North Clan. They enjoy fighting in mid-air. Crazy and over the top aerial battles. Like a movie come to life. The southern caves house the South Clan. They just like breathing fire on everything. The western quadrant are the West Clan. They're good at every skill, but aren't dominant in any one." She pointed to the grassy forest at the far east side of the valley. "But it's the East Clan you need to watch out for. They're specialists in hand-to-hand combat. Grappling, takedowns, slams, the works. And they reeeeeeally don't like Dragonites."

"How can I tell which is which?" Lance asked. Liza smirked.

"They all have their little quirks. Southerners are a little smaller than the rest, but their wings have charcoal markings they themselves etch. I think it's in their own language, but I can't read Charizard scratch. Northerners wear necklaces of stone. Grass to be the string, and shells or sharpened rocks as the 'jewelry.' It whistles in the air when they fly. Kind of creepy sounds. Westerners don't have any markings of any kind. They pride themselves on just being themselves. Easterners…they etch mud and charcoal and Arceus knows what else onto their face like tribal war paint. It is intimidating." She said.

"And they all listen to you?" Lance asked.

"Unquestioningly." Liza said. "They treat me as their sovereign, or the equivalent. And I treat them with respect, because I know them all." She looked at Lance, and shook her head. "They are going to haaaaaate you."

She looked to the skies.

"Well, here them come for morning roll call." She said.

No sooner had she said that, the sky became choked with flying creatures. Lance was dumbfounded. He had never seen this many Charizard in one place, and none that were this _big._ He watched, equally in awe, as they obediently took perch on rocks or the ground. And they were all in their clans. They glanced at him, and then at Liza. She spoke.

"Listen up! We have a guest. This is Lance." She said. The Charizards all looked at him in unison. It was an unnerving sight. "He will be training his Pokemon with us for the foreseeable future. Give him a warm welcome." She said.

Lance had met the King of Dragons, Rayquaza, and had heard it roar at its loudest. Yet the sound presented to him was a close second. He was legitimately shaking. He regained his composure. Liza smiled.

"Thank you. Now, he will be sending out his most trusted Pokemon for his first ring match. We all know what happens when a new guy comes into the ring, right?" She asked.

Again, a chorus of excited roars.

"Good." She said. "Be well behaved, treat one another with respect, and come noon we'll have the battle royale. Can I see the Clan masters, please? Everyone else, go eat."

A slew of Charizards flew from their perches to the feeding troughs. Lance watched in shock as the food he'd spent a good half hour preparing disappear in a few minutes.

"Lance, over here." Liza said. She pointed to the four Charizard in front of her. She pointed to each of them.

"Gentlemen…and lady, this is Lance. He is here to see the best of your clans. Tell your clans to treat him and his Pokemon with respect, and I will reward everyone. Now for introductions." She pointed to the Southern leader. "This is Chief Emberhead." She pointed to the Northern leader. "This is Chief Windsprint." She pointed to the Western leader. "This is Chief Braveheart." She pointed to the marked up, utterly terrifying Eastern leader. "This is Chief Irongrip." She cleared her throat. "Irongrip is the first female chieftain in my lifetime."

"Which of the chieftains is the technical leader?" Lance asked.

In unison, the three male Charizard pointed (was it fearfully?) at Irongrip. Lance sweatdropped.

"I'm not surprised." He muttered. He cleared his throat. "I, um, am kind of embarrassed to admit this for the first time in my life given the circumstances, but my favorite Pokemon is…Dragonite."

At this admittance, the four Chieftains looked both shocked and angered.

"Peace!" Liza snapped. "The Dragon will not be a problem to your clans. It seeks betterment, as does the rest of Lance's Pokemon. You had better deal with the fact that our visitor is a Dragon type trainer. He does not only train Dragonite, but it is his most powerful. Now get this straight: There will be absolutely no vendetta-driven attacks against Dragonite. Anything goes in the ring short of crippling, obviously, but nothing else. Am I clear?"

The Charizards seemed ambivalent.

"Am. I. _CLEAR?_" Liza repeated.

Lance was blown away by Liza's forceful personality towards the Pokemon. It looked like she might be able to kick their asses herself if she wanted to. And probably his.

So how come he thought it was…interesting that she was so tough?

The Charizards grumbled, and nodded in acceptance. Liza smiled sweetly.

"Excellent! Now, I'll see you all at the ring at noon."

A few hours later, that was precisely where they were. All of the Charizard were perched around the ring, roaring in anticipation for the upcoming battle. The clan leaders had sent forth one of their best from each clan, and the four Charizard were growling and playing up their toughness in front of the crowd. Lance glanced over at Liza, who was sitting at the side of the ring with her trusted Charla. He reached for the Poke Ball at his belt, held it close to his lips, and whispered softly.

"This is to improve both of us, old friend. Forgive me."

He threw it, and his trusted friend emerged.

If Lance had thought the Charizard greeting for him had been rattling, that was child's play compared to the unholy hell Dragonite received on his entrance. If it wasn't for the clan leaders, it seemed that the Charizard were going to mob Dragonite and tear him to pieces.

Dragonite was behaving unlike anything Lance had ever seen before. Normally his old friend was pretty laid back, and the biggest thing they butted heads over was seriousness: Lance treated every battle as a very serious affair, while Dragonite was kind of a large ham. Here, however, he was stone cold and snarling. Liza was right. Dragonites really didn't like Charizards did they?

"Go!" Liza shouted.

To Lance's shock, the four Charizard rushed Dragonite at once. Before he could shout that this was unfair, Dragonite dodged past them and double-clotheslined two of them.

"Stay on your feet, Dragonite!" Lance shouted. "Use Strength, use Struggle, whatever you can!" He shouted. There was no time for a powered up attack: the Charizard were too fast, and they were defending their honor against a hated foe.

Dragonite fought bravely. It managed to pull of an impressive gorilla press drop one of the Charizard, only to be picked up by one of the others and thrown hard against a rock formation. Then three of the Charizard started to throw rocks at the dazed Dragon. The crowd of Charizard roared in approval, and Dragonite was now seriously bleeding.

Two of the Charizard grabbed Dragonite by the arms, and with their combined weight slammed him facefirst into the grass. The third Charizard, the Eastern clanner, took a running start, and kicked Dragonite in the head with the force one reserves for going for a seventy-yard field goal.

"Arceus, Liza CALL THEM OFF!" Lance shouted. Liza nodded, realizing that Dragonite's hazing was over. But before she could restore order, the fourth Charizard acted. It was the Westerner, that much Lance could tell from its lack of markings, and it proceeded to tackle the Easterner from the side. Soon, a few other Easterners jumped into the brawl, and it all turned into a big ball of violence.

BANG.

The sound of the starter pistol caused everyone to freeze. Liza was holding the cap gun, and she looked furious. She stared at the clan leaders.

"Unacceptable. I expected a little bit of hazing, but I did not think you were petty enough to stoop to crippling! Even a Dragonite!" Her face was twisted in rage. "Absolutely unacceptable. Clan leaders, you are to handle punishment within the clans yourself. Now get off that Westerner!" She shouted to the Eastern pack. The bloodied Charizard was helped to its feet, but before it could be carried back to the group, Liza stopped it.

"You need medical attention as well. Come with me." She looked at Chief Braveheart. "See me immediately. The rest of you, get lost until dinner! Cool off, you blood-thirsty degenerates." She said, rolling her eyes.

The crowd of Charizard flew away, all grumbling about the Mistress ruining a good old-fashioned ass kicking. They just hoped she wouldn't punish them through their dinner.

Lance sprinted over to the rock where Dragonite had propped himself up against, and he ripped off his sleeve of his ranch hand clothing to clean up a few of Dragonite's cuts.

"Arceus, I'm sorry. I did not think this would happen to you." He said. Dragonite looked at him, and gave a shrug. It managed to smile weakly. Though one of its eyes was swollen shut and its face was bloodied and battered, the message was clear.

_Price of being a battler, master. I hold no ill will. Especially not towards you._

"Lance, I'm sorry." Liza began. Lance looked at her with murderous eyes.

"Are you? Cuz it sounded like you were in favor of that beatdown." He snapped.

"Not to that extent. But you and I have to both admit that Dragonite needs to get toughened up if it wants to avoid getting pummeled by an Aggron again." She said. "Yeah, I watched the match last night while you were sleeping. It was a re-run. Dragonite has a glass jaw. Steven and that Orrean kid exploited that, and if you want to get a rematch…you need to strengthen the three best Pokemon you have. This is the best kept secret in the world: nowhere is the competition tougher than in the Charicific Valley." She said.

"How come you don't advertise?" Lance asked. "Do you have any idea how much your valley would make from trainers looking to sharpen up?"

"I have an idea, and it's too much." Liza said. "I don't need the League blowing smoke up my ass to let me know that what I'm doing here is meaningful. I know it through the development of the Charizard in this valley. And I will know it through the development of your Dragonite as well. Bring him up to the cottage. Charla will help patch him up. I have to talk to Braveheart and his clansman."

Lance nodded, and with Charla's help escorted Dragonite back up to the cottage. As soon as they were out of earshot, Liza turned to Braveheart and the nameless Charizard.

"What happened back there? Did you order that?" She turned to Braveheart. It growled and shook its head. The nameless Charizard grunted.

"You did that yourself? Why?" She asked.

The Charizard rumbled, and shrugged.

"Ok, I can understand you thinking enough was enough, but think about what you just made yourself in the eyes of some of the others…especially the Easterners. Can you deal with that?" She asked.

The Charizard nodded. It was surprisingly brave. Speaking of which…

"Braveheart, who is this Charizard?"

Braveheart growled.

"Just one of your boys? Huh. Might want to change that, because I think you should promote him to your council."

Braveheart and the nameless Charizard did a double take. Braveheart grunted, asking why.

"One, because I said so. Two, because one of your councilmen is…at death's door, I'm sorry to say. Oh don't look so offended, you and I both know that he has lived a long and happy life as your advisor, but it is almost his time. And three, I think that the Western clan would think very highly of you if you rewarded bravery against a gang of Easterners. Don't you think?" She asked. Braveheart agreed to this, and heartily roared in approval. She turned to the nameless Charizard.

"Congratulations. Now try not to do anything stupid like that again."

To her surprise, the Charizard nodded and gave a thumbs up of all things. It growled, and took flight high into the sky, with Chief Braveheart following suit. Liza watched after them, before walking back to the cottage to check on Dragonite.

To her surprise, she saw that Lance and Charla were not alone. Lance had released the other two Pokemon that he had brought with him, and they were both anxiously watching Dragonite to see how things were. Liza cleared her throat.

"Who are they?" She asked. Without looking at her, Lance spoke.

"My other two Dragons. The older one is Salamence. He was a gift from Grandmaster Arach for my twenty fifth birthday. I don't know how old he is…but I heard he's older than the Grandmaster." He said with a smirk. Salamence nodded, the wizened Dragon agreeing with his younger master's statements.

"How old are you?" Liza asked. Lance smiled slightly.

"He doesn't like to say. But I know for a fact that he's older than the Grandmaster. And the Grandmaster is in his early fifties." Lance said. Liza blinked in surprise.

"Your clan has a leader that is so young?" She asked.

"You wouldn't be surprised if you knew his track record. He wasn't always just a member of the Dragon Clan. He was also pretty invested in the G-Men, too. He won't talk about it, but the members of the G-Men that I've talked to, including a rather odd investigator, always speak in reverential tones whenever his name comes up. But I digress. The golden one is Haxorus. He's the baby of the group. He'd only evolved a few months before the World Tournament, and he's really looking to learn how to improve his ability." Lance said.

"What kind of fighter is he?" She asked. Lance turned to look at her.

"Put it this way. You ever watch any of those WWA shows on TV?" He asked.

"With guys like Crasher Wake? Yeah all the ti-" Liza stopped as Lance raised an eyebrow. "Never mind. Haxorus is a wrestling fan?" Lance shrugged.

"I was flipping channels one day when I was sick and he was just an Axew, and somehow by the grace of Arceus caught a match right when Crasher Wake caught one of his opponents in…what are they called? The 'Crash-Crash Piledriver?' Yeah, something like that. Well, it was all over when that happened. I looked at that little Axew, saw the stars in his eyes and I thought to myself…well, guess I'd better hire a coach to help me teach him those kinds of throws." He laughed. "Haxorus still thinks he can challenge for the championship against Crasher Wake today."

The golden Dragon nodded indignantly. It took all of Liza's self-control not to confess to being a secret wrestling fan right then and there (as well as getting involved in a discussion of said topic with the Dragon), but she managed. Then she yawned.

"It's getting late. Do you need any help with Dragonite?" She asked. Lance shook his head.

"No. He'll just need a day to heal from that. Four-on-one isn't exactly fun, even if it _was _hazing." From his tone, Liza knew that Lance was still hurting over that perceived betrayal. As he finished patching his friend up, Liza decided that it was probably a good time to go to bed. Bidding them all good night, the matron of the Charicific Valley retreated to her room. Lance watched her leave, and sighed.

"Think you'll be ready tomorrow, buddy?" He asked Dragonite. His battered friend looked pensive, but then nodded. Lance smiled. "Good." He turned to the others. "I think you'd better sleep in here tonight. I don't know how welcoming those Charizards will be to other Dragons as well." Haxorus and Salamence nodded, and shortly after that they were sound asleep on the floor. Dragonite was snoring shortly after.

As Lance walked up the steps to his guest bedroom, he happened to glance out the window towards the valley below. He thought it could have been the shadows of the moonlight hitting the trees playing tricks on him, but he thought he saw the silhouette of a Charizard watching him from below.

He blinked, and it was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I own a copy of at least one game from every Generation, but that's about it.

Lance woke up early the following morning. Earlier than Liza, even. Truth be told, he hadn't been able to sleep well that entire night. Who could blame him? He had more or less seen his oldest friend get jumped by a gang and then beaten to an inch of consciousness, and that was not something you forgot even if you _were_ the prospective Grandmaster of the Dragon Clan. So, ignoring the aching in his muscles crying out for him to fall back asleep, he'd instead taken it upon himself to go jogging.

He stayed with the western quadrant of the Charicific Valley, knowing that it would be extremely dangerous anywhere else. For whatever reason, he figured that the western Charizards would be the most receptive towards an unfamiliar human jogging through their hunting grounds and rest area. Thankfully, he was right. Other than a few wary stares from some of the older beasts, the Charizards left him alone. He thought he noticed that one Charizard that had more or less saved Dragonite from a merciless beating the previous day, but maybe he was just seeing things. Either way, he spent the rest of his run thinking to himself.

When he came back to Liza's cottage, he saw the irate owner of the building waiting for him.

"And _where_ did you run off too?" She demanded. "You could have been seriously injured or killed!"

"I just stayed within the western quadrant." Lance said, shrugging a little bit. "I figured that they would be the last ones to burn me on sight."

Annoyed, Liza pinched the bridge of her nose. She took a deep, calming breath, and then let it out with a big sigh.

"I don't even know how Arach and the rest of the clan put up with you. Do you just not know how anything in this world functions if it doesn't involve you battling?" She asked.

Lance's blank expression told her everything she needed to know.

"Urgghhh…" She said. "Forget it, we'll continue this later. For now, I think you want me to help you get your team tougher, right?" Lance nodded, though to be honest he wasn't sure what she had in mind.

"Yeah, I do." He said. "Advice?" He asked. Liza shook her head.

"Gimme Haxorus." She said. Surprised that she hadn't asked for Dragonite, Lance reached for the Pokeball on his belt and let the golden Dragon out for some fresh air. It stretched its legs a little bit, hopped up and down energetically, and then stood at attention.

"Haxorus, you're going to be working with Miss Liza today." Lance said. "Treat her with respect, understood?" He said, with a tone like a father instructing a son. Liza couldn't help but smile at the relationship he clearly had with his Dragons. They may have been beaten in a stunning upset the last time they had battled, but they still had absolute faith in their leader. This might make things a little bit easier.

"Okay, Haxorus. I watched some of your fight against Steven's Armaldo, and I have to say that it was a heck of a good fight. Especially for someone as young as you are. You've got the majority of your life ahead of you…so it makes sense that you made a few mistakes against Armaldo. I don't think that thing has the technical proficiency you have wrestling an opponent: he just had you because you have a very, _very _limited skillset. It let that Orrean condition Armaldo until it could take even your best hits without taking too big of a shot." Liza said. She then whistled shrilly. There was a roar, and a Charizard with very distinct markings and charcoal over its face landed right next to Liza with a loud THUD.

"An Easterner?" Lance asked. "They want to do something with me after you embarrassed them yesterday?" Liza chuckled, and stroked under the chin of the Charizard like a mother to a young son. The fact that this scary-looking beast was almost _purring_ was enough to make Lance take a step back.

"Don't be silly, Lance. They may hate Dragonite, but they love their mother." She said. "And this Easterner is named Lesnar. He's a young one. Hasn't quite been indoctrinated to hating all Dragons yet. In fact, he's always wanted to make one tap out." She said. Lesnar grinned evilly and cracked its knuckles. Haxorus dug its feet into the ground in determination. Lance could sense the nerves of his young friend, and sympathized. This might be difficult…

"So what's on tap for today?" He asked. Liza smiled.

"Glad you asked. We're gonna teach Haxorus a couple of new moves. They'll all be testaments to its Strength, and are variants of the Vital Throw and Seismic Toss." Liza said. "The next time you face off against Steven or anyone who thinks all they have to worry about is Haxorus' Superpower or Slash to Take Down combo will have another thing coming." She pointed to a particularly soft-looking patch of grass. "We'll practice there."

The group shuffled over to the grass, and it was tall enough where Lance felt comfortable enough to sit down in it to watch. Liza stood in the middle of Haxorus and Lesnar.

"This one is Lesnar's favorite move to soften up his opponent: it's basically a big build-up to the Skull Bash. But not the way you think of it." Liza said. "Instead of using _your _head to inflict the pain…you're going to let their head do all of the work for you."

Haxorus stared at Liza blankly, and Lance smiled sardonically.

"You've lost him. And me, to be honest." He said. Liza rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. It was a strangely pretty sight, if Lance thought so himself. Before refocusing on more important matters.

"Fine. I'll demonstrate." She said. Lance raised his eyebrows.

"Wait, what?" He asked. Liza didn't respond, and instead walked over to Lance. Before he knew what was going on, she'd stepped behind him and put him in a full nelson hold.

"Watch this, Haxorus!" She said. "Aw, quit struggling you wimp!" She said to Lance, who was trying (and failing) to break the hold. "First, you get your opponent in a full nelson like this. Then…" She placed her left leg in front of Lance's leg. "Pick a leg you're going to sweep." She then hooked Lance's leg and pulled her leg back. Lance barely had time to shield his head as he was forced face-first into the grass. Spitting grass out of his mouth, he rolled over to see that Liza was now straddling him with her fists posed to strike. "When you've got them in the supine position? Punch them in the face!" She mimed strikes to Lance's head, and then smiled. "We call this one the Skull Crushing Finale in the Charicific Valley. It's usually an ending move to a fight, and it _crushes_ the _skull._ Heh heh heh." She smiled. She turned to Haxorus. "Got that?" She asked. The young Dragon nodded eagerly, and turned to face Lesnar. Liza smiled, and then realized something.

She was still on top of Lance.

"Uh, sorry." She said, blushing slightly as she got up. A bewildered Lance got up to a sitting position after she'd left, wondering what the hell had just happened.

Haxorus' first attempt was terrible. He was too loose applying the full nelson, and Lesnar repaid his softness with a hip throw over the shoulder. Then, when Haxorus was face-first in the dirt, Lesnar grabbed one of the Dragon's free arms and cranked it back behind its back in what Liza said was a "Kimura" lock. She added drily that Lance should maybe try working out with Bruno a little bit more, as he was no doubt very well versed in the arm of submission holds. Finally, after several more failed attempts, Haxorus was able to pull off the move flawlessly. Then, just for fun it tried that same arm lock on Lesnar. When it saw Lesnar smacking the ground and heard Liza tell it to stop, it looked like Christmas had come early. Lance couldn't help but smile at the sight of his young friend's excitement.

After a half-hour or so explanation and training to perfect Haxorus' technique, Liza cleared her throat.

"Okay, that was pretty good. Really good for a first day, I think. So as a reward, I have one last move to teach you. This one is Lesnar's favorite move of all of his moves." Lance could see the young Charizard practically hopping up and down with excitement. "Okay, big guy. Grab him!"

Before Lance could react, Lesnar had grabbed Haxorus and was carrying it over its shoulders the way a fireman would carry a civilian out of a burning building. Liza whistled, and Lesnar moved. With a roar, it threw Haxorus over its shoulders, but instead of just throwing threw in a twist of the body. As a result, Haxorus didn't just fall to the ground but rather spun out in mid-air before landing on its back. Lesnar had also landed on its back, but it was clear that it was in much better shape than Haxorus. Haxorus managed to get back up to its feet, but it was clear that the move was going to leave some lovely bruises in the morning. Lance finally spoke.

"What in the name of Arceus was that?" He asked. Liza smiled.

"Well, technically it's called a spinout fireman's carry face-buster, but that's way too many words. So we just call it…the F-5." She said, clearly proud of the name. Lance raised an eyebrow.

"…Why?" He asked. Liza shrugged.

"Category Five Tornado. Spinning around your opponent like in a tornado. Massive amounts of damage. F-5. Easy stuff, Dragon boy." Now it was her turn to raise an eyebrow. "I figured that you would be able to keep up with me, Lance." She winked, and Lance averted his eyes for a moment.

"So, can Haxorus learn that move?" He asked. Liza stared at the golden Dragon.

"Certainly, but not today." She said, to the very clear disappointment of the golden Dragon next to her. "It's a pretty dangerous move for the one you're hitting it with, and that's even when you're doing it right. How we're gonna do it while you're here is teach Haxorus some technical wrestling ability, and at the end of every session we'll work on the F-5." She smiled. "That's enough for today. Let Haxorus take a rest for the day, and tomorrow we'll work with Salamence." Lance felt that was fair, and with a smile dismissed his very sore partner to go relax at the cottage. Liza said something to Lesnar, who gave a friendly roar before taking off with a WHOOSH. There was a moment's silence, before Lance spoke.

"What did you say to it?" He asked.

"I just told Lesnar that it would get a break from dealing with the rest of the clan if it was willing to train Haxorus every day while you're here." She said. "I don't think that I've ever seen a Charizard accept my offer that quickly. But don't you worry, Lesnar isn't a slacker. He's probably one of the toughest Easterners in the entire Valley."

"Why then isn't he a leader?" Lance asked.

"Irongrip." Liza said.

"Ahhhh…" Lance replied. He then laughed. "Behind every successful man is a powerful woman." He said wistfully. Liza raised an eyebrow.

"Is that right, Dragon boy? Will we be saying the same thing about you?" She winked at him, and then walked off towards the cottage. For the rest of the day, as they went through the motions of managing the Charizards in the valley and keeping everything from going up in flames, Lance couldn't help but think about that question.

Was Liza referring to his battling abilities?

Or was she talking about something else entirely?

He didn't know, and that bothered him so.

A/N: And I'm back! School's been a heck of a time consumer, so I haven't been able to get into this story for a while now. But I'm ready to keep on rolling. R&R, please!

P.S. A wonderful author by the name of BlackLadyCharon has offered to write a collaboration with me, and I humbly accepted. "The Cost of the Crown" features the TrodaireVerse, but perhaps not in the lens you'd expect…I bet she'd really appreciate a few R&R's.

Thanks everyone!

P.P.S. Yes, there were a ton of wrestling jokes in this chapter. If you think you recognized any of them, mention them in your reviews.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I own a copy of at least one game from every generation. Other than that, nothing else.

For about a week, Liza didn't even have Lance or the rest of his team practice training. Instead, she had them working around the valley. Dragonite was in charge of gathering supplies from the outside world to bring in to the valley, for the simple reason that a Dragonite wandering around the valley was tantamount to suicide. Old Salamence was given a relatively simple job: he was to fly around and keep the fire pits that each clan used to stay warm at night burning. It wasn't terribly taxing work, which was probably a good thing. Salamence was getting older and slower now, and it was clear that it was still feeling the hits from their hellacious first match against Steven Stone. Privately, Lance was worried about whether the old guy would be able to survive another tournament, but for now he was more concerned about the here and now.

The here and now in this case was him and Haxorus hauling giant bags of grain and other foodstock and supplies over their shoulders from the base of the canyon where Dragonite and the other Charizard (all Westerners, for the record. Liza didn't trust any other clan to work with the Dragon) delivered it all the way up to the barn behind Liza's cottage. It was sweaty, grueling, backbreaking work. More than a few times the two of them paused to rest. Lance more often than Haxorus. The golden Dragon would've teased his master, but it was too tired himself to make any wisecracks.

Any time that they ate during the day, they did so hanging along with the wooden fence just outside the cottage, overlooking the valley. Sometimes down in the little dirt square there'd be a few Charizard fighting. To the South there'd be glowing blasts of fire as the group practiced their fire attacks. The Northerners were all in mid-air, flying around and practicing their technique in flight. The Westerners you couldn't hear much from, but there was no mistaking the roaring and yelping coming from the Eastern quadrant indicating the battles they were having. Liza glanced over to Dragonite, who was silently watching the Eastern treeline with a cold expression.

"They've been really kicking it up since you came here, Dragon." She said. Dragonite was silent, as if it hadn't even heard her.

"And yet we haven't trained in a week." Lance said drily. Liza stared at him.

"Is that right? Are you so sure?" She frowned. "There are more ways to train a Pokemon than just battling non-stop." She whistled. There was a roar, and once again Lesnar the Charizard had appeared at her side. His war paint was somewhat smeared, as if he had been in the middle of a fight recently. "Lesnar? Try to put Haxorus here in the F-5."

With a roar, Lesnar attempted to do just that. But while he tried grappling with Haxorus, the golden Dragon dropped down even lower than the Charizard and lifted him up instead. And with a startled cry, Lesnar found out too late that instead of hitting Haxorus with the F-5, _he _was getting _hit _with the F-5. WHAM.

Haxorus picked itself up, dusted itself off, and looked around. It seemed confused, as if wondering "what is everyone looking at?" Lance blinked once in surprise.

"Whoa." Was all he managed to say. Liza smirked.

"You see? Just one week, and already Haxorus is getting stronger. I bet if you put him in a fight against Armaldo he'd squash the guy. How would that Orrean like that?" She winked at Lance, and he looked down and shrugged.

"Yeah. It's…thank you. This is really something." Lance said. Liza raised an eyebrow.

"Don't thank me yet. We've still got two Pokemon to train, don't we? Dragonite is getting plenty of work for regular strengthening, but Salamence…" she sighed. "Lance, can I be honest with you about something?"

"Sure. Anything." Lance replied. Liza took a deep breath, and then spoke.

"I think you need to retire Salamence." She said.

There was a long pause. Lance looked at her, a sad expression forming on his face.

"I was hoping you wouldn't say that." He said. "I kept hoping that he'd be able to shake off the effects of his battle against Steven but…he just hasn't healed properly. When he was younger I think he would have been able to handle it, but he's had a really long career and he's taken an awful lot of bumps too." He looked absolutely miserable now.

"Lance, you okay?" Liza asked.

"I made a promise to him." Lance said. "I made a promise to Arach that I was gonna get Salamence back into fighting shape, that he could have one last final hurrah. Like Alder, you know? He might not have won against Red, but he went down swinging and the fans loved him for it. They'll never doubt his ability. Salamence? What was his last match? Getting upset by an Excadrill. And Excadrill that practically _flew!_ It made Salamence beat itself up, for Arceus' sake. That was embarrassing. I don't want his last memories to be that."

Liza sat down next to him, and glanced off in the distance. Then she frowned.

"Do you think he looks embarrassed right now?" she asked, pointing ahead of them. Lance followed her point, and soon he was looking at Salamence. The aging Dragon had found itself a shaded spot under a tree to watch the sunset. It kept glancing off to the north, watching the Northern clan flying around and sighing contentedly.

"No." Lance said slowly. "If anything, he looks pretty happy."

"Maybe he doesn't want to be a battler anymore." Liza said. "And maybe you're just projecting your own embarrassment onto him. Ever consider that?" She asked. Lance said nothing, which meant that he hadn't considered that. So he stayed silent. Liza rolled her eyes.

"It's not like you're putting him down, for Arceus' sake! He's just not young enough to hang with some of the stronger Pokemon in active competition anymore. And that happens to everyone. We all lose our touch at some point in the future." She said. Lance winced.

"I don't like to think of it like that." He said. Liza frowned.

"Well, you gotta deal with it whether you like it or not." She said. There was a silence. Then she spoke again. "I'm in my late twenties, Lance. I've been raising Charizard since I was a little girl helping out my dad. And I can't tell you how many times I've seen Charizards lose their step because they were getting old. But here's the thing: none of them went to pieces when they were confronted with that. Because they understood. And they chose to remember what made them feel happy and strong, instead of wondering what more they could accomplish."

"Seems…" Lance was interrupted.

"Weird, because as a Dragon Clan member you're trained to be the best there is, the best there was, and the best that ever will be? Yeah, I can imagine it is. But it's also a fact of life. There's even gonna be a day when Dragonite isn't able to fight anymore."

Lance said nothing, but instead clenched his hands together so hard his knuckles whitened. Liza realized that she had struck a nerve, and smiled softly.

"Hey…it's ok. Don't fret about the future. Try living in the present a little bit more, huh? You might like what you find." She glanced over at Salamence, who was now napping. "I'll let you tell Salamence on your own terms. Right now, I gotta get the feed bags ready for dinner." She walked off.

Lance walked her walk off, and then looked over at Dragonite. He saw the serious expression in the Dragon's face, and decided that he would deal with that later. Right now, he knew that he needed to do something with Salamence. Because deep down, he knew that Liza was right.

He walked over and took a seat in the grass next to Salamence. He felt the creature stir from its slumber, and then a friendly growl as a large red wing laid itself on his head.

Just like it used to do when Lance was a boy.

"How are you doing, old man?" Lance couldn't help but ask. There was a rumble. Salamence's response was pleasant, as if to say _nothing I haven't felt before._

"Heh. I figured you'd be that tough. That's why I liked playing with you so much when I was a kid. Remember how I used to hide under your wing like this, and you'd keep me warm?"

Salamence smiled, the wrinkles in its face becoming more pronounced. Lance smiled too.

"I couldn't believe it when Arach gave you to me as a gift for turning 21. You were mine and Dragonite's hero. So powerful, so strong. So durable." His smile started to fade. "But it's not the same as it was in the beginning, is it?" He looked Salamence in the eye. "You're not healing the way you used to, are you?"

Salamence closed its eyes, and then sadly shook its head. Lance nodded in acceptance.

"I…I don't think it's smart for you to keep training with me, old friend. I…I think you could get hurt." He felt his voice catch. Salamence looked at him, and smiled. It was the same playful smile it had given Lance when he was a boy and his baby Dratini would chase him around the castle that the Dragon Clan called home. It was a smile that said _it's okay, child._

"I…" Lance took a deep breath. "…I think you need to go back home to Arach. Live your life playing with kids and younger Dragons. I…I think your battling career is over."

Salamence didn't react at first, but then it nodded in acceptance.

"But…before you go. I have a question. If you knew deep in your heart that this was hurting you…then why did you keep following through on it?" Lance asked.

Salamence made no noise in response. It chose to look Lance directly in the eye. Its gaze was not judgmental, nor was it offended. It was warm and comforting. And though the Dragon could not speak, its face said everything.

_Because you are my master and my friend. And I would follow you to the end._

Lance stood up, and hugged Salamence's head tightly. The tears were threatening to come in full force now. Salamence's growl was soft and quiet, as it nuzzled against Lance's chest. This was the moment of truth. Lance took a deep breath and looked Salamence directly in the eye.

"Salamence…I release you. Go back home to Arach, and fly free and in peace."

Salamence nodded, and then its wings began to flap. The wind blew in Lance's face, and he was forced to step back. Salamence let out one last prideful roar, and took to the skies. It circled around the cottage once…twice, and then began flying away. Towards the Sevii Islands, where its old master awaited. Towards a quiet retirement.

Towards its home.

Lance watched it fly away, until it was nothing more than a speck on the horizon. And then he let the emotions hit him. He didn't cry. But he fell to his knees, and felt his arms go limp.

But then there was another presence next to him. He felt himself wrapped in a bear hug, and realized that it was his Dragonite. The gesture was simple, but the message it carried wasn't.

_Don't worry, friend. I'm not going anywhere yet._

Haxorus came over and stood next to them as well, and the trio kept watching off in the distance long after Salamence was gone. From above in the cottage, Liza had watched this whole display silently.

She didn't know she was crying until she blinked.

The following day, there was an awkward air hanging over breakfast. Haxorus and Dragonite were out in front of the cottage practicing grappling moves and takedowns, with Lesnar the Charizard barking out encouragement. Liza finally found it in her to speak.

"So what happens now?" She asked, as she put the last of the dishes in the dishwasher and turned it on. She followed Lance out onto the front lawn, where he silently watched his remaining two Dragons battle. He turned towards her.

"I'm not sure. I have two Pokemon now. That's not enough to take on the other Champions again." He said. Liza raised an eyebrow.

"You have more Pokemon than that! What are you talking about?" She asked. Now it was Lance's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"I do, yes. But those three are my strongest, bar none. All of the other ones would need months to get even close to the shape I got the three of these Dragons a year ago, only to lose to Steven. So I'm at a loss." He said. Liza shrugged.

"I'm sure you'll find something. And I'll help you find that something." She said. Lance looked at her and smiled.

"Thanks. I'd like that."

Liza smiled too, and blushed slightly. However, before Lance could ask her why she was, there was a roar.

It was enough for Haxorus and Dragonite to stop fighting, and even got the attention of Lesnar. There was a whoosh, and a flash of orange.

A Charizard stood in their midst. It bore no markings of any kind, so it was clear that it was a Westerner. Lance made eye contact with the beast, and recognized it immediately.

"You're the Charizard that saved Dragonite!" he said suddenly. The Charizard gave a thumbs up, something that it seemed fond of doing.

"Well, what are you doing here? Did you happen to hear our conversation by any chance?" Lance asked, semi-sarcastically.

To his surprise, he got another thumbs up. Lance raised an eyebrow, and tried again.

"Soo…does that mean you want to be my third Pokemon?" He asked.

Once again (though he wasn't surprised this time), he got a thumbs up. Lance smirked.

"Okaaay…you do realize that you aren't a Dragon, right?" He asked. Then he paused. "Actually, that doesn't really matter. Do you think that you can take on Dragonite and Haxorus? Because they're my best Pokemon. And I'm gonna need to see some proof before I just up and take you." The unknown Charizard shook its head, and to everyone's surprise pointed to Lesnar. "You want to fight Lesnar?" Lance asked.

The Charizard gave a loud roar, which seemed to say _no. I want to BEAT Lesnar._

The Easterner roared back, gladly accepting the challenge and the chance to put this Westerner in its place. Liza smiled.

"Ok. Like a standard Crasher Wake match: First submission or pinfall to a three-count wins."

It was over in minutes. Lance had never seen a Charizard move as quickly as this one could. As soon as Liza shouted the go, it was on top of Lesnar. It got behind the Easterner, locked in the full-nelson and before anyone could do anything it dropped the Skull Crushing Finale. Then, before Lesnar could even get up, it grabbed the Easterner. But instead of twisting around for the F-5, it gave it a vicious suplex. When Lance saw it, he had a flashback to that hellacious suplex Armaldo had hit on Haxorus in his fight against Steven, and the moment where it had all started going downhill.

After applying the suplex, the Charizard moved again. It rolled Lesnar over on its stomach. Then, the Charizard stood over Lesnar's back, and tucked its opponent's arms underneath its own armpits. From this point, the Charizard flipped over into a bridge position, pulling Lesnar's arms out. The Easterner was in so much pain it spit fire, and couldn't even tap out on account of its arms being pulled away from the ground. Liza was forced to blow a whistle. The Charizard released the hold immediately, and then let out a rebellious roar of rambunctiousness, while Lesnar massaged its shoulders grumpily. Lance was still trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. Liza, on the other hand, was crowing.

"Oh, Arceus! That was incredible! I've never seen one of my Charizard get another in the bridging double chickenwing before! That was so cool!" She practically squealed.

Lance had no idea what this "bridging double chickenwing" was. It sounded like something you used to mutilate cattle. Liza looked at him, stars practically shooting out of her eyes.

"I've only seen that move done a couple of times in the WWA, it's such a technica-" she stopped herself, before she once again nearly outed herself as a professional wrestling fan. "I mean, you should take this Charizard! First it saves your Dragonite, and then it goes and shows that it has some agility for a big guy." She said. Lance looked at the Charizard, and nodded. He was sufficiently impressed. He held out his hand, and gave the Charizard a thumbs up. The beast gave a cheesy grin, and gave a thumbs up back to its new master. Even Dragonite, who had been watching the match perhaps hoping that both beasts would injure themselves, had to admit that that was an impressive takedown and finish.

"So…do all of the Charizard know moves like this?" Lance asked. Liza shrugged.

"Most of them do. Well, the best ones are Easterners and Westerners, but just about all of the Charizard in the valley know some sort of takedown followed by a submission hold. Why? What are you thinking about?...Why are you grinning like an idiot?"

"No reason." Lance said innocently. "I just think that I found out a way to get an edge on the other Champions and especially on Steven."

"You really want to stick it to him, don't you?" Liza asked.

"Can you blame me?" He asked. She smiled.

"Not really." She glanced at her watch. "Hey, we should probably call it a night. I have to coordinate who the sentry Charizard are gonna be, and then it's WWA-…I mean, waaay past bedtime! Yeah, that's it!" She scurried off. Lance stared at her, and then looked at the other Pokemon. Lesnar had already flown off, leaving behind Lance and his three Pokemon.

"Think she's a terrible liar?" Lance asked.

All three of his Pokemon nodded in unison and agreement.

When Liza returned back from picking sentries for the night, she saw that Charla was sitting on the couch with a big spread of dinner. The TV was blaring and the opening theme of WWA was booming through the house. Liza greedily grabbed one of the miniature hot dogs on the platter.

"Honestly, Charla, I think making all this food is a little bit-"

She looked up, and nearly choked on her food.

"Much?"

Sitting on the floor and on the couch were Lance and his three Pokemon. Lance smiled and gestured to the TV.

"I think I need this whole WWA thing explained to me." He said with a smile.

A/N: Oh no. I've been outed as a wrestling fan! The horror! Seriously though, I think Pokemon is a fantastic enough environment where pulling off wrestling moves that honest-to-god are unexpected isn't stretching the line of credibility that much. And if nothing else, wrestling moves are fun to watch! By the way, the hold that the nameless Charizard put on Lesnar is probably best known as a submission hold by WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan, who calls it that "Cattle Mutilation."

On another note, be sure to check out my collaboration with BlackLadyCharon, "Cost of the Crown," on her profile! I'm sure she'd love the views (and reviews). Thanks everyone!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I own a copy of at least one game from every generation. Other than that, nothing else.

For once, Liza didn't have to worry about being a nerd because she liked professional wrestling. She gave Lance a run-down of what made it so popular, and how more or less every Charizard in the valley had taken some of the moves to heart and were trying to figure out ways to use them in reality. She noticed that Lance said nothing during this entire exchange, instead quietly watching her talk with a bemused smile on his face. He seemed genuinely interested, instead of just humoring her. He then spoke after she was done.

"So…Crasher Wake moonlights as a Gym Leader when he isn't 'crackin' skulls' as his cathphrase implies?" He asked with a wink. Liza blushed a little bit. She'd gotten a little bit carried away when she had described Crasher Wake's style of speaking in the ring and giving promos. There was a reason he was her favorite after all.

"Yes, yes he does." She said. "He always tells me that he's made so much money from it that he could retire if he wanted to…but in his words-" she immediately dropped her voice a few octaves and harshened her tone of voice. "How could I say no to tha kids, lil' sis?" She asked. Her impression was so ridiculous that Lance burst out laughing. Liza couldn't believe it. As far as she was aware, Lance had never laughed out loud in history and she was the first person to crack the code. Lance honest to Arceus wiped a tear from his eyes after a few moments of belly-laughing, and spoke.

"S-sorry. It's just that I met him once during a conference once, and he sounds just like that." He said, giggling like a little kid. "I thought it was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever seen, and somehow Arach kept a straight face while talking to him! His lip didn't even twitch or anything like he was holding back a laugh. I couldn't believe it, but then again Arach tends to take everything in stride." He said. Liza nodded.

"Sounds like it." She said, not really knowing what else to add. There was a slightly awkward silence, and then Lance spoke up again.

"Soo…what's going on with tonight's match?" He asked, pointing to the TV screen. Liza immediately perked up.

"Oh, it's awesome! Well, Crasher Wake was the Heavyweight Champion for the longest time, but he got screwed out of the title a few months ago by Drake Dastardly (that's the giant guy with the long black hair and the ugly mustache), who had some of his partners hold Wake hold while he pinned him. So for the last few months and a couple of pay-per-views, Wake's been chasing after Dastardly for a fair shot to win back the title. Dastardly's thrown so many jobbers at Wake that you'd lose count at how many people have been pinned! It's gotten so bad that the head of the WWA, Baz MacMahon, got on TV and announced that he was settling this once and for all with an Extreme Rules match between Dastardly and Wake that would decide the championship holder once and for all." She said, almost out of breath. Lance raised an eyebrow.

"And this is all scripted, right?" He asked, a small smirk placing on his face. If looks could kill, she would have incinerated him on the spot.

"IT'S REAL TO ME, DAMN IT!" She snarled. Then she softened. "…Yeah, but the fun is in seeing the execution. And those moves they pull off really hurt. All you have to do is watch one of my Charizard go after another." She said. Lance could only nod. She had a point after all. Liza grinned. "Plus, I have such a girly crush on Chip Skarmory's voice. He's like Arceus' gift to announcing events."

"Arceus, is there anything that he _doesn't _call?" Lance muttered under his breath as Liza turned up the volume for the match.

*_Good evening ladies and gentlemen! If you're just tuning in, this is Chip Skarmory coming to you LIVE from Center Stadium in Castelia City! The crowd has been on their feet in anticipation of this match. For months now, we've been following the great one Crasher Wake as he's chased after Drake Dastardly to reclaim that championship belt he so rightfully deserves. And at each and every turn he's been denied by that slimy coward, Drake Dastardly! But CEO Baz MacMahon promised us that this would be the end, and that there was no more escape for Dastardly. He HAS to face Crasher Wake tonight, and tonight is the night! Welcome to KING OF THE RING 2013!*_

"I can't believe he's still in his twenties…" Lia sighed dreamily. Lance didn't know why, but he was starting to get a little jealous of her fawning over Chip.

On screen, the introductions were finished. Crasher Wake had come out to pyrotechnics and cheers, while Dastardly had come out to boos and debris thrown at him. He sneered for the camera, clearly angry that he had been cornered into this match. His little sycophants, who Liza explained were called the "Dastardly Wolfpac," were all watching on the sidelines.

*_The referee, Mills Lane, has checked both fighters and has cleared them. There's the bell! We're off to the races!*_

A professional wrestling match was unlike anything that Lance had ever seen. For his girth, Crasher Wake moved surprisingly quickly. That went double for Dastardly, who seemed about seven feet tall and by the way he moved clearly did not care about the laws of physics. They exchanged headlocks, powerslams, suplexes, scoop slams, and a dizzying variety of other technical terms that Liza had to explain to the Dragon master.

"This is a good match!" Liza said, munching on some popcorn. "The WWA really knows how to deliver a good product!" Lance could only nod, but privately shrugged to his three Pokemon. He didn't really know what was going on, but he wasn't stupid enough to anger the lady who was hosting him.

"Tomorrow we'll challenge the Eastern tribe again." Liza said. Lance nearly choked on his food.

"What?" He managed to gasp out. Liza looked at him resolutely.

"Absolutely. I think it's time to show them that Haxorus can hang with them. We won't be having Dragonite go up against them yet. He isn't ready." She said. Dragonite privately scowled, but then Lance noticed something. The nameless Charizard that he had befriended leaned over and began muttering something in Dragonite's ear. Judging by the expression on the Dragon's face, it was a very interesting proposition. Lance was about to ask Liza something, when suddenly she squealed and pointed at the TV.

"Look! Look!" She screamed. Lance glanced at the TV to see Wake tackle Dastardly. It didn't seem like much, but Dastardly looked like he'd been snapped in half. And Chip Skarmory went nuts.

*_SPEAR! SPEAR! SPEAR! SPEAR! Wake got him with the spear! And Wake's calling for it now! The crowd's on their feet! Can he pick him up?*_

Wake picked up Dastardly, and shoved the man's head in his armpit. Then, he placed Dastardly's arm over and behind his shoulders. He grabbed Dastardly by the seat of his pants, and then lifted up. The crowd lost its mind.

*_HE'S GOT HIM UP! HE'S GOT HIM UP IN THE JACKHAMMER!*_

Dastardly was held up vertically in the air, his legs way up in the lights with his head pointed down to the ground. Then, Wake twisted so that Dastardly was slammed back-first into the mat, with Wake hooking the leg for the pin.

_*And there's the ref! Here's the cover! ONE! TWO! THREEEE! WE GOT US A NEW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION!*_

Liza screamed and threw up her bowl of popcorn in celebration, and proceeded to hop around in excitement. Lance watched a blubbery Wake accept the championship belt, before he cut a heartfelt speech about how much it meant to win this for the fans back home in Pastoria City. But Lance wasn't thinking about that. He was thinking about that one-two finish, the Spear and the Jackhammer, and thought to himself:

_That's a hell of a combo._

He glanced over at Dragonite, and he kept thinking about it.

Liza had finished her parade of fangirling, and then realized that she had probably made a fool out of herself in front of Lance. She coughed once, embarrassed, and then sat back down.

"Sorry." She said. "I, uh, don't get out that much so this is the best entertainment I've got." She said with a smile. Lance raised an eyebrow.

"You don't get out that much?" He asked. Liza shook her head.

"I can't, really." She said. "The Charizard take up an awful lot of my time." Lance now looked skeptical.

"Oh, please." He said. "They seem pretty self-sufficient without you. If you were to disappear one night without them, I'm sure they wouldn't burn the house down…figuratively speaking, of course."

"No, with Charizard you kind of have to be literally speaking." Liza replied. Lance shrugged.

"If you say so." He said. Then an idea hit him. He had no idea where this idea came from, and he never would have suggested it a year ago. But it hit him all the same. "Let's sneak out in to Violet City." He said with a grin. Liza looked at him like he was crazy.

"What? But it's almost sundown!" She said. Lance shrugged.

"So we quick run out, grab a drink or something other than whatever you had planned on cooking for yourself, and then we hustle back before the Charizard notice you're missing! It's fool-proof." He said. Liza looked pretty interested in this, and a grunt from Charla implied that she could talk to the clan chiefs and get them to watch their tribes with little to no problem. But then Liza's expression changed.

"Waait…so, is this like a date?" She asked.

It is a shame that Pokemon cannot talk, because if they could Dragonite and Haxorus would've mocked the shit out of that Stantler-in-the-headlights look that briefly flashed across their master's face. But then the Dragon master smoothly recovered. Well, as best as he could, anyway.

"Uh, sort of?" He said.

Wow. Smooth.

Liza chuckled.

"Fair enough. I'm down for that." She said. She looked over at Charla. "Relay this message to the clan leaders. Absolutely no Mankey business while I'm gone, or there is gonna be hell to pay. Am I clear?" She asked in a creepily serene voice. Charla gave a salute, and with a roar swooped out of the cottage and into the night sky. Liza noticed that Lance was reaching into his pocket for what appeared to be a hat and glasses.

"Uh…what are you doing?" She asked. Lance looked at her with a grin.

"Disguising myself." He said. "I don't think you want a bunch of paparazzo hounding you when they see that you're currently hanging with Lance, do you?" He asked.

Liza nodded that that was true, but deep down she felt a little bit sad that Lance needed to disguise himself so he could enjoy a little bit of privacy when he went out in public. At least she knew that her problem was she hated people.

Perhaps an exaggeration, but the point stands.

"Ready?" Lance asked. Liza nodded, but then frowned.

"Uh, how are we getting there?" She asked.

"We fly." Lance said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'll take Dragonite and you'll ride Charizar-"

"No. I'll ride Dragonite, and you'll have a chance to ride your newest Pokemon. Sound fair, hot shot?" Liza asked with a wink. Lance didn't say anything, just glancing over at his newest Pokemon as the quartet walked outside. (Haxorus had opted to stay at the cottage, in the hopes of finding more wrestling to watch)

"Uh, ok…" He said. Liza got on Dragonite's back, and with an excited squeal was lifted up into the air and almost out of sight. Lance gingerly got on Charizard's back, trying not to touch the burning tail. He looked at the Charizard and spoke. "Try…try to go easy on me, ok?" He asked.

The look the Charizard gave him said one thing and one thing only.

_I will make no such promises._

Lance gulped.

A/N: Another chapter in the chute! Hope you enjoyed it. Hey, readers, be sure to check out an awesome story I'm working on with BlackLadyCharon called "Cost of the Crown." You can find it on her page. It needs more love, in my opinion. Hope you enjoyed this one!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I own a copy of at least one game from every generation. Other than that, nothing else.

No one was out and about in Violet City that night. The snow was falling gently, and most people were keen to stay warm and not freeze to the spot they stood. Liza shivered as she dismounted from Dragonite. There were so many Charizard in the Charicific Valley that she sometimes forgot that winter was technically supposed to have snow and cold weather. If global warming was real, then she was certain that her hordes of Charizard played a key role in it.

Behind her, Lance had gotten off of Charizard, and the expression on his face indicated to her that it had not been a smooth flight at all. She winked at him, and he shuddered.

"You flew first class. I had to fly coach." He muttered. Charizard grumbled, and then proceeded to smack Lance upside the back of the head. Liza found this too much, and promptly started giggling. Lance looked embarrassed, but it was hard to tell with those sunglasses.

"Okay, what's the deal with the aviators? You look like an absolute moron." Liza said.

"An _inconspicuous _moron." Lance corrected her. Liza rolled her eyes and was about to speak, but then Lance spoke again. "Do you see anyone staring at me? Has my identity been discovered? No? Then I think I'm right." He said. Liza just sighed, her breath a cool mist in the night air.

"Fine. Have it your way. But we _are_ going indoors. I'm not about to sit outside and develop hypothermia for you, Dragon boy." She walked off in the direction of the place she'd been staring at since they got there, and Lance could only follow. Dragonite and Charizard walked slowly behind them, a nice distance away from the two humans, and then started whispering to each other about…something. What were they discussing?

That is another story for another time.

It was a small little mom and pop establishment. The perfect place for them to hide incognito. Not nearly enough customers to glance in their direction at this time of night, and the owners of the place respected Liza enough to give her some space if she wanted it. Dragonite and Charizard requested to sit on the roof, which the old owner agreed to provided they didn't fall in through the shingles.

Lance hadn't really had much experience with Johto cuisine before, so Liza had to chuckle at the way he gingerly poked at his food.

"What are these called, exactly?" He asked. Liza rolled her eyes.

"They're called _pierogis,_ smarty-pants. You're lucky that those are meat-filled. Some picky eaters have tried the cheese-filled ones and then swear them off. Which is a shame, really. They waste such a delicious food." She proceeded to emphasize this point by scarfing down a few of hers. Lance marveled at the way the food just disappeared, and then decided to give his another go.

A very good decision, he discovered.

"Soo…what's your plan after this?" Liza asked.

"Eh?" Lance asked, in between bites of food. Liza smirked.

"Well, you can't just stay here with me for the indefinite future." She said. "So what are you going to do after we're done toughening up your team?"

Lance thought about it for a moment. Then he spoke up.

"I want to beat Steven at that festival coming up in a few months." He said. Now it was Liza's turn to be surprised.

"You want to beat Steven Stone at Summerfest?" She asked. Lance nodded, completely innocently.

"Yep." He said.

"That's in Hoenn."

"Yeah."

"That's Steven's home court."

"Yeah."

"…He never loses there."

"Only because he doesn't always get involved in the main event." Lance said. "Now, if I can draw him out to face me, then what I can do is…"

"Lance…" Liza cut him off, a slightly exasperated tone in her voice.

"What?" He asked. Liza raised an eyebrow.

"Has this what all of this has really been about? You holding on to a grudge because you lost to Steven a few months ago?"

He was silent, so she continued.

"I thought you were over that?" She asked. "You even told me you were. So what gives?" She asked.

For the longest time, Lance just stared at his pierogis. There was a pained expression on his face as he played with his food.

"It…sticks with you." He said. "A loss that you weren't supposed to lose."

Liza didn't say anything, deciding to let him keep talking.

"I thought I was over it myself." He said quietly. "I mean, Arach took me to a sacred place and told me that I'm gonna be the new Grandmaster when he retires-" He cut himself off, eyes widening as he realized what he had just said. Liza's eyes also widened, cupping her hands to her mouth.

"Ohmigod, did you just…?" She trailed off.

It was common knowledge that the Dragon Clan would announce their newest leader by means of a celebration. It was a grand ceremony in Blackthorn City, where the old one would button the new one's ceremonial cape as means of passing the torch.

It was also something that absolutely no one on the outside knew about until the moment of crowning.

"I…did, didn't I?" Lance said lamely. Liza's expression was giddy.

"Lance, that's so amazing! You should be proud of yourself!" She said. Lance shrugged.

"It's a lot of responsibility." He admitted. Liza snorted.

"So? You will do great!' She said. Then she raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you still fixated on Steven?"

"Because I want to prove to the world that the future Dragon Grandmaster isn't anyone's pushover." He said. "I'm…worthy of being Arach's successor." But the way he said this last bit was completely unsure, as if he were trying to convince himself. Liza sighed.

"Look. I'm gonna break this down for you, so you'd better shut up and listen." She said. Lance looked at her, confused. She took a deep breath and began.

"At the end of the day, no one is gonna care that you got upset by Steven. Considering the way he's cutting through tournaments with the new _Mrs. _Cynthia Stone by his side, it's clear that he's reminding everyone why he's one of the best trainers out there. So if anything, they'd chalk it up as a worthy battle that you just couldn't hang on to. And if you're so hung up over the fact that your streak was broken?...Sorry bub, but your streak has got nothing on your buddy Red's. Has he ever lost? I don't think so. Ever. It's time to face the facts, Lance: _Red_ is the greatest trainer there was, there is, and there evil will be. He has never lost, and I doubt he ever will. Don't try to live up to _him,_ do you have any idea what his life must really be like? Take it from a girl that's a shut-in herself. He's _alone._ With no one but his Pokemon for company. Is he happy? By all means, it looks that way. But not everyone is wired that way, Lance. In fact, I think that he might be the only one on the planet that is wired that way. And I can tell that you're not. Red was put on this planet to be the greatest archetype of a trainer that ever lived. He's gonna live on waaayyy past his death because of that. But that's all they'll remember him as: a great fighter. Is that all you want to be remembered as? A great fighter? Or do you want to be something more?" She stared at him, and then kept going.

"You're gonna have to accept the fact that you're headed for a position that demands you be more than just a great battler. You're gonna be someone that people can actively aspire to be like, in the way you carry yourself and behave. Red sells tickets in stadiums and money for Pay-per-views. You're gonna be a world leader, practically, and you're gonna have to be a lot more than just a guy that puts butts in seats."

Lance seemed deep in thought, and thus Liza decided to finish.

"Let me put it to you this way, Lance. I know that Red is your closest friend, but let me ask you this: whose life would you rather have, Red or Arach's?"

There was a pause as Lance mulled these words over. He sighed, taking a deep breath. And then came a small smile. And Liza smiled too; because she had a feeling he knew which one he'd take in a heartbeat.

"Thanks, Liza. I think I needed that." He said. Then he frowned. "But you're not like Red, either."

"Oh?" Liza asked. "And what makes you think that?" She asked.

"Well, you're not alone either." He said. "You've got Charla, you've got your Charizard…and you've got the Dragon Clan." He said. "And you've got me."

Liza paused, a small blush creeping up her face. Then she smiled slightly.

"Thanks…I appreciate that." She said.

She tried not to make eye contact with him in that moment, but she had a feeling that he had quite the Cheshire Cat grin going right there.

They finished their meal in a relatively subdued state, choosing instead to talk about superficial and silly things instead of the deep conversation that they had had just prior. Liza had no idea that Lance was as big of a geek as he admitted to.

And Lance didn't realize up until then how pretty Liza looked in that coat of hers up until that moment.

They flew back a few minutes later, with Lance graciously letting Liza ride on Dragonite while he braved another flight with Charizard. Judging by the silence in the air, it would appear that Charizard was too tired to mess with Lance. Come to think of it, Dragonite was seeming a little lethargic too. She also noticed that Dragonite had smudges of dirt on his face, as if he'd been getting thrown into the dirt multiple times.

What had those two been up to?

To their eternal relief, the Valley was not in shambles when they returned. According to Charla, the clans had all called it an early night, and Haxorus had broken into the sugar cabinet and was currently sitting on the couch munching on Poffins and watching WWA reruns. Liza giggled at this, and said that the golden Dragon was more than welcome to crash on the couch. Charla dutifully saluted, and went inside to let Haxorus know this. Judging by the overjoyed cry from inside, it was clear that he was appreciative of Liza's generosity.

Dragonite fell asleep on a chair in the corner, and Charizard went off to the stable next to the house for the night. That left Liza and Lance. They walked up the stairs to their two rooms. Hers was right on the left and his was that little broom cupboard at the end of the hallway.

Not that he particularly minded.

"So, uh…" Liza said as they were at the top of the stairwell. "I had fun. Thanks for breaking a girl out her shell."

"Thanks for breaking a guy out of his." Lance countered, a small grin on his face. Liza laughed despite herself.

"Sooo…I would say that was a successful date, was it not?" Liza said. Lance nodded.

"The best." He added with a small grin. There was a silence, and then Liza broke it.

"Well, I'm going to bed. Good night, Lance." She started walking up the steps.

Lance, when he was five, had climbed on the back of a sleeping Hydreigon owned by one of the Dragon High Masters because he wanted to know if the scales were rough when it slept. He'd dove into a pool when he was thirteen to save his cousin Clair from a rampaging Gyarados before Arach was able to tame the beast. He'd graduated from the top of his class, and had embarked on countless undercover missions for the G-Men that would've meant death if he was discovered.

Yet years later he insisted that what he did next was the bravest moment of his life.

"Liza, wait." He said. Halfway up the steps, she stopped. She turned around, a confused expression on her face.

"What's wrong, Lan-" She was cut off when the Dragon master gently kissed on her the cheek. She had a speechless expression on her face, as if she was wondering what had just happened.

"I, uh, think that the custom to finishing a good date is to, uh, kiss the girl on the cheek." Lance admitted lamely. He was not opposed to being eaten alive by a Steelix right now. Liza seemed to come back to her senses, and frowned.

"It's not." She said. Lance felt his insides drop down into his shoes.

"…Not quite, anyway." She said after another moment's pause.

And before either of them knew what had happened, she'd kissed him right on the lips.

A/N: What happens next? We'll see! And if you're interested in some of the exploits of my first story The Fight Club, the main character of that is currently starring in my collaboration with BlackLadyCharon entitled "Cost of the Crown." Check it out if you can! She deserves some views and reviews. Till next time!


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